Chapter 1391: A Thriving Hong Kong

'After two months, I'm back...'

Xia Yu smiled as he got off the plane and looked at the familiar Kai Tak International Airport.

The United States was nice, but it wasn't as comfortable as Hong Kong, and he was finally back.

Cindy didn't say anything, taking Xia Yu's hand and snuggling up to him.

Since becoming pregnant, Cindy has become increasingly dependent on her husband, as if this is the only way she can feel truly at ease.

'Cindy, let's go home!'

'Yes, I haven't seen my sisters in a long time.'

Cindy gives a small nod, a flash of longing in her eyes.

Xia Yu smiles, and helps her into the bulletproof car.

Then, the luxury convoy drives out of the airport and heads home.

...

Although each of them had a career, Elena, Kumiko Sumito, Li Qian and He were all pregnant, so they put the health of themselves and their children first.

They would still work, but it had become a spice in their lives.

After all, Xia Yu had gone to the United States, and they would get sick if they stayed at home all day.

However, today, they knew that Xia Yu would be back, but they were not allowed to pick him up at the airport, so they could only stay at home together, looking forward to it.

'When is my husband going to be back?'

Kumiko Sumito looked at the parenting book, but the content that she usually could get into was completely unable to get into her head at this time. She put down the book and propped her chin as she looked out the door.

'According to the time, if the plane hasn't been delayed, it should have already arrived...'

Elena replied from the side as she stroked her stomach.

Just then, it seemed as if there was a rumble of car engines in the distance.

'It's a convoy, isn't it my husband coming back?'

'Let's go out and take a look,'

Li Xi said, walking outside expectantly, followed by the other women.

Sure enough, after they went outside, they saw a black Rolls-Royce at the head of the convoy pulling into the large courtyard, followed by many other cars.

In a short while, the main car in the middle drove to the driveway in front of the villa, and then the door opened.

Xia Yu and Cindy got out of the car one after the other.

'Honey, you're back!'

'Honey, Cindy, welcome home!'

'Sissi, Elena, Kumiko, Chaoqiong, I've missed you all so much!'

For a moment, the villa's entrance was filled with a joyful and joyous atmosphere.

The women's feelings of longing, which had accumulated over the past two months, completely exploded at that moment.

Although it made Xia Yu a little flustered, he was intoxicated by this feeling.

Then Xia Yu asked someone to take the gifts out of the car. After the group entered the house, Xia Yu surprised them one by one.

The house was filled with laughter and joy all afternoon.

They were all curious about what had happened to Xia Yu and Cindy in the United States.

Xia Yu was very patient and described what had happened in the United States in vivid detail.

The plot, full of danger and twists and turns, gave them a clearer understanding of the complex and ruthless struggles between the conglomerates.

Although Elena and Sumitomo Kumiko both come from wealthy families, they are still young women, and as non-heirs they are unlikely to have access to such deep secrets.

What's more, struggles of this magnitude don't just break out at any time.

Over the next two days, Xia Yu rested at home to adjust to the time difference and strengthen his bond with his wives.

After recuperating, Xia Yu began to go out and about again.

His first trip was to Lamma Island to inspect the construction of the Lamma Island Petrochemical Base.

After more than a year of full-scale construction, Lamma Island had undergone earth-shaking changes.

The original barren hills and wasteland had been flattened, and in their place were huge oil refineries and super-large oil storage tanks.

When you actually come to the site, the sense of visual impact is even stronger.

Upon arrival, Xia Yu discovered that Governor Su Xingjian was already there.

'Mr Xia, long time no see!'

Su Xingjian smiled as he saw Xia Yu get out of the car and quickly walked up to greet him.

'Governor, long time no see!'

Xia Yu responded with a smile and a nod, and looked at another person, his subordinate, Liang Rong, the person in charge of the Lamma Island refinery project for Pacific Oil.

'Hello, Chairman, welcome to the inspection!'

'Well, let's go, show me around,'

Xia Yu said, and Liang Rong immediately led Xia Yu towards the completed factory area, wearing a helmet at the gate.

'Chairman, the project to build a petrochemical base with a capacity of 10 million tons started in September last year, and the first phase was finally completed in November this year, with a capacity of 3 million tons of oil refining per year,'

'The first phase of the refinery is already in operation. Look over there.'

As they walked, Liang Rong introduced the project, pointing to a smokestack.

'The second and third phases of the plant have already completed land levelling and foundation construction. According to plan, the second phase of the 3 million tonne refinery project will be officially completed and put into operation in May 1986.'

'The third phase of the plant, with a production capacity of 4 million tons, is expected to be completed and put into operation before December 1986...'

After Liang Rong had finished his introduction,

Xia Yu suddenly stopped and asked, 'Refining began last month. How is the business going so far?'

Liang Rong had already known the answer by heart and reported it as if it were his family treasure: 'To be precise, production began on the 15th of last month. Because it has just been put into use, it has not yet reached full capacity.'

'The refining volume for the first half of last month was 92,700 tons.'

'So far this month, the refining volume has reached 183,100 tons, with a loading rate of 95.5%.'

'In total, 275,800 tons of fuel have been sold in the past two months, and there is no inventory at all.'

'In terms of sales, it reached 312.47 million Hong Kong dollars, and the gross profit was 68.74 million Hong Kong dollars...'

At this point, Su Xingjian, who was standing nearby, smiled and said, 'After the petrochemical base on Lamma Island started production, Hong Kong's fuel oil imports dropped quite a bit last month and this month, and the results are obvious.'

'That's good!'

'If we can refine oil ourselves, we won't be easily strangled by others, and the industrial sector and the livelihood and consumption sector will also be more secure.'

Xia Yu nodded in satisfaction.

In the refining industry, with no worries about sales, the profit itself is already considerable.

If Pacific Oil Company's third phase of construction, with a combined refining capacity of 10 million tons, is put into production, the annual output value will be at least 10 billion Hong Kong dollars, and a profit of more than 2 billion Hong Kong dollars is not a problem at all.

Of course, the prerequisite is that it can operate at full capacity and that the fuel oil and additional products can be sold.

As for this, Xia Yu is not worried at all. After all, with his energy, he can easily take over the markets in Hong Kong and Macau.

If he really wants to wipe out the competition, he can do it.

As for the export of oil, Xingcheng really cannot compete with him, even if the oil refineries there are basically owned by international oil giants.

The future of the Lamma Island petrochemical base is bright!

The petrochemical industry in Xiangjiang has also stood up!

After inspecting the factory that has already been put into production, Xia Yu also went to see the factory under construction, which is being built in an orderly manner.

After that, Xia Yu also went to the oil port nearby.

The Lamma Island oil port has been completed and is operated by Hutchison Port Holdings. Tankers can already be seen berthing at the port to unload oil.

It is worth mentioning that these tankers are either owned by Orient Overseas Container Line or Wheelock Shipping Company.

The fat profits are still being kept within the family.

'Leung Wing, do a good job and don't let me down!'

Before getting into the car, Xia Yu patted Leung Wing on the shoulder and said to him with deep concern.

'Please rest assured, Chairman, I will do my best!'

Liang Rong, as if on pep talk, promised loudly with his head held high.

'Mmm!'

'Go and get busy, report to the top if there's anything, and you can also ask Governor Su for help if you have any difficulties.'

'Yes!'

'Governor, do you want to go to Chek Lap Kok together?'

In response to Xia Yu's question, Su Xingjian smiled and said, 'Of course. The new Hong Kong International Airport is already in the later stages of construction, so I definitely have to accompany you to take a look.'

'Let's go then.'

...

Lamma Island is a journey away from the outlying islands to Chek Lap Kok on Lantau Island.

Compared to the petrochemical base on Lamma Island, the new Hong Kong International Airport was built even earlier.

The project was approved at the end of January last year, which is now 23 months ago, just one month shy of two years!

Although the area around Chek Lap Kok on Lantau Island is uninhabited, apart from building the new Hong Kong International Airport, it was also necessary to build a road from the city to Chek Lap Kok and to reclaim some land.

But after nearly two years, with the full construction efforts of Jiuding Infrastructure Limited, which has the honour of being the 'King of Hong Kong Infrastructure', the construction of the Hong Kong International Airport is also reaching its final stage.

Judging from the entire project, four-fifths of the construction work has been completed.

After inspecting the area, Xia Yu was very satisfied with the results.

The passenger terminal building has been completed, but it still needs further decoration.

The ancillary facilities such as the check-in counters, shopping gallery and ground transportation centre are also almost complete.

There are two airport runways, 3.8 kilometres long, and 63 parking spaces.

Given its current scale, there is absolutely no need for expansion within the next ten years!

It is expected that the Hong Kong International Airport will be officially put into use by June 1986.

At that time, the old Kai Tak International Airport could be declared over.

According to Su Xingjian, Hong Kong's annual passenger volume exceeded 10 million in 1984, and the 10 million passenger volume standard of Kai Tak International Airport Phase IV has already been exceeded.

Even after a small expansion, the standard has only increased by 2 million passengers. This year is fine, but next year it may not be able to hold up.

It just so happens that the new Hong Kong International Airport will open in the middle of next year, so there will be a seamless connection that will not affect Hong Kong's image or the development of the tourism and entertainment industries.

He inspected the construction of the Lamma Island chemical plant and then went to see the progress of the Hong Kong International Airport.

On the way back, Su Xingjian suggested that he would like to chat with Xia Yu more, so he got into Xia Yu's car.

The topic of their conversation was Xia Yu's concern, which was also the effectiveness of the Hong Kong government's work on people's livelihood.

The results of the past two years have been remarkable in terms of housing, education, and healthcare.

Three new hospitals have been built, as well as three public universities and two private universities.

In terms of public rental housing, the target of 100,000 units this year has also been achieved ahead of schedule.

Together with last year's 100,000 public rental housing units, there are a total of 200,000 units, solving the housing problem for at least 800,000 people in two years.

Coupled with the suppression of a group of conscientious real estate companies such as Jinding Real Estate Group and Hongkong Land, the average housing price in Hong Kong is now 5,000 Hong Kong dollars per square meter, which is equivalent to the 1978 level.

In 1978, the average monthly income of an ordinary Hong Kong resident was only about HK$2,000.

Now, however, the average monthly income of an ordinary Hong Kong resident has risen to about HK$5,000.

While incomes have more than doubled, housing prices have fallen back to the levels of eight years ago, greatly reducing the pressure on residents to buy a home.

The price of an 80-square-metre flat is only HK$400,000.

This is equivalent to more than three years of a couple's salary, so the difficulty of buying a home has dropped very, very low!

Xia Yu therefore gave Su Xingjian a piece of advice: the Hong Kong government's public rental housing policy could be slowed down, with a maximum of 10,000 units launched each year. The number of residents in Fuzhe is already sufficient to exceed the natural population growth each year.

After all, Hong Kong's real estate industry is related to too many jobs and links to a huge number of industries. Further suppression will do more harm than good. Just maintain it at this level.

Xia Yu's suggestions were fully taken to heart by Su Xingjian, who was preparing to set the tone for the Hong Kong government's development policies in the coming year.